Contingency
by FreakyFeline
Summary: Following Akatsuki's plan to capture Naruto and the council's pledge to keep him at bay, Lady Tsunade decided to send Yamato's team to a seemingly meaningless side-mission regarding some old scrolls that she inherited from her grandmother. Little do they know that they were going to stumble into an unexpected mystery of a history which was thought to be long forgotten.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
***

The sun was already well up in the sky, hanging over the cliff where the renowned five Hokage were carved in stone. The people of the village were filling up the streets as they go about their daily routine, however there were those who were not quite the early birds, but there were those who aren't. Naruto was lying on his side, resting on the edge of the bed gaping and drooling over the pillow from the corner of his mouth. He was partially resting his head on the pillow however he was hugging the rest of its body with both of his arms and crossed legs ''Sakura'' he muttered in his sleep. He shifted a little, dropping his arm and left it hanging out of the bed. The bedsheet was piled at the foot of the bed, becauseNaruto has a habit of shifting and turning while he is sleeping. The blond was restless even in his sleep.

Naruto was awakened by the sound of the obnoxious doorbell. Its ringing was harsh against his waking senses, it felt like throbbing right through his brain. He grunted and tugged the pillow over his ear, muffling the persistent sound and waiting for it to come to a stop. Unfortunately the doorbell kept buzzing until he had no other choice but to drag himself out of the bed. He sat up on the edge of the bed and placed his feet down on the smooth wooden floor. He rubbed his sleepy eyes with his knuckles trying to drive the drowsiness away and stretched his arms. When he felt he was awake enough he stood up, but as soon as he started walking he stepped on some spilt milk which made him fall over his butt, the doorbell kept ringing insistently aggravating his patience ''I'm coming!'' he cried out irritated as he got back to his feet and rubbed his aching bottom. He grabbed the trousers that were left on the back of his desk chair and stumbled his way to the door while pulling his pants up.

There were thudding sound of feet on the creaking wood as they approached closer to the door, followed by a creaking sound of the door. The boy with dishevelled blond hair and unzipped pants peeked sleepily behind the door.

''Good morning sleepyhead'', his eyes gleamed as he saw the girl that he was dreaming about a little while ago and now she was standing in his doorway.

''Good morning Sakura'' It was always pleasant for him to see the pink-haired kunoichi first thing in the morning. ''May I come in? I need to talk to you''

''Err…sure'' he blushed and rubbed the back of his head as he awkwardly moved out of the way. Sakura stepped in, as she passed by, Naruto caught her scent, which made him freeze on the spot and blush. When he realized that Sakura walked on without realising he had stopped, he hurriedly tried to catch up to her. As soon as she entered she noticed how rowdy the kitchen was. There were empty cans of instant ramen noodle soup all over the table and piled up counter and sink with glasses and other tableware filled in a row to be washed. Sakura frowned and placed her hands on her hips

''Really Naruto you are hopeless'' she said shaking her head ''how can you live in a place like this!?''

''Sorry about that'' he said as he was rubbing the back of his head. He felt embarrassed of his poor reception when has has the girl he likes as his guest. He didn't know much about welcoming people in his home either, since the only person that visited him was usually Sensei Iruka, He tried to think of what to do in these circumstances

''Um…would you like something?'' He said his eyes shifted nervously

''I'm fine thank you'' she said and sat down, feeling a little bit uncomfortable due to the mess.

''So...um…what's going on?'' he muttered as he made his way to his fridge and pulled out the milk, gulping directly from the mouth of the carton.

She crossed her legs and rested his arms on her lap, looking at Naruto ''Well, when I went to help lady Tsunade this morning, she told me to assemble our team to her office at nine-thirty'' she stated

''Do we have a mission?'' Naruto rubbed the tip of his nose with the back of his finger and leaned against the counter, his eyes gleaming in anticipation.

''Yes I have already told Captain Yamato and Sai about it so they should be heading their way to the office''

Naruto's blue eyes widened in excitement, it had been for quite some time since they went to a mission and since Jiraiya sensei was away and Kakashi sensei was injured. He had no one to train with, so he was longing for some action. He also hoped that the fifth Hokage had some new Intel about Sasuke's whereabouts. ''Did she tell you what it was about?''

Sakura shook her head ''She will tell us when we get there so don't be late'' she shot a stern look at the blond. He felt he could turn into ice with that look of hers, she really looked scary sometimes.

''Yea, yea I will get there, I need to get ready first'' he said looking the other way, in order to avoid her reprimanding look.

''Now then I will be going ahead'' Sakura said as she stood up

''Later'' Naruto replied as she waved off a little before led her way out of the apartment.

***  
Naruto could not believe how much time can flow so fast without even realizing it. Before he knew, he was already late and sprinting his way from his home towards the tall building which was standing a few meters ahead of him. He ran up the swirl of stairs of the Hokage tower and sped towards the fifth's office. He stopped in front of the door to catch his breath, then he straightened up and pushed it open, stepping in the doorway. Captain Yamato and his teammates were already there. Lady Tsunade was sitting behind her desk in her usual manner while Shizune was standing next to her, holding Tonton in her arms.

''Everyone is here, good'' she muttered, she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table in a relaxed manner.

Naruto exchanged looks with the rest of his team, as if he was expecting to find the answers, but even the others were as clueless as he was.

''Team Yamato, I need you to go on a mission for me. It shouldn't be too difficult but it doesn't make it any less important. I would say it is a C-ranking mission''

''Granny don't keep us on our toes just tell us already! '' Naruto said curtly in an impatient voice.

''I am getting to that Naruto'' she sighed, joining her blood-red manicured fingers together ''As I was saying even if it is a C-rank mission it is not an official one, having said that it is actually a personal request, involving retrieving an artefact''

''Arte-what?'' Naruto replied baffled and dismayed, he was rather hoping that they get back on track to find a certain raven haired missing nin,

''The relic object is a short sword which belonged to my grandfather. It has a white hilt with the Senju symbol engraved and its blade is slightly curved up. I found this information from some scrolls that my grandmother had, after she passed away, I kept them but I forgot about them until I dug them up yesterday. One of these scrolls tells about a secret chamber that belonged to the Senju clan, it was kept hidden most probably to avoid in being raided by thieves, it probably holds other relics from the clan''

''Who cares about some old knife?'' Naruto cried out. Sakura hit him on the back of his head for his lack of sensitivity,

''Oww what did you do that for?!'' Naruto muttered indignantly,

''This is something very important for Lady Tsunade, so don't complain!' Sakura wavered her finger at him and placed her hand on her hip as she lectured him,

''I can't see what is the big deal, I'd rather get some lead on where Sasuke is so we can get him back to the village'' Naruto crossed his arms and pouted,

''Why are you so obsessed with Sasuke, was he your lover or something?'' Sai commented with a sly smile on his face,

Naruto gritted his teeth and looked as if he was ready to pounce over his prey. "Why you! What's your problem?" Naruto cried angrily as he clenched his fists. Yamato held him back. If it wasn't for Yamato's grip, he would have punched the smile from Sai's face.

''That's enough'' Tsunade slapped her palm on the table and caused everyone to stop in their tracks. Shizune held Tonton a little bit tighter, she knew when her mistress loses her patience she would blow up the entire building with her raw strength.

''Naruto you are going to do this side-mission, and I don't want to hear another word about it!'' The fifth Hokage muttered in a strong calm voice, she sighed at how Naruto still acts like a child, she wandered from time to time how he has managed to get this far.

Naruto seemed to have calmed down and just moped in silence. Sakura frowned and shook her head, looking vigilantly at the boy next to her. Lady Tsunade sat back down to her desk and resumed back to the current topic.

''Now about that mission'' she paused and bent down to open the top drawer of her desk. She pulled out an old scroll with discoloured white page and decaying edges. 'I can't give you the scroll so you have to copy the directions from it'' she said as she spread it open.

''Leave it to me'' Yamato replied as he pulled out a scroll and wrote down the needed directions, when he was done he rolled the scroll back placing inside his green flak jacket.

***  
Outside the village of Konoha, lays the dense forest populated by masses of trees and vegetation, moulds of hills and bellies of valleys, stretching all the way to the mountains. The team had to travel far away from the village to the west, fifty kilometres into the depths of the wilderness, before reaching to the destination, in such a place where seldom people passed by, except occasional peddlers, or roaming rouge ninjas .It was rather silent and peaceful until the leaves flickered as a breeze swept by and black shadows passed overhead in a glance, flying swiftly by from one tree branch to another as Yamato and his team made their way to their destination. The captain moved ahead sometimes watching over his teammates or rather watching over Naruto. The boy has been strangely being quiet ever since they left Konoha. Yamato knew about the Naruto's situation, since he was aware that the Akatasuki were after the jinchuuriki, and the elders had made it quite clear that they wanted to hold the boy with the sealed kyuubi in check. If it wasn't for Tsunade he wouldn't been able to leave the village by their orders. As a matter of fact, before they left for this mission, the fifth had informed Yamato clearly of these circumstances, choosing him as the leader was a conveniently wise move since he was the only one who was able to withhold the nine-tailed fox's chakra inside of the teen. Moreover this mission was a good way to distract the council from focusing too much on Naruto, as well as keeping him sharp and busy. He admired Lady Tsunade for being able to set a compromise with the elders and set out this plan.

The row of trees started decreased and the scenery opened up to a field of short green grass. Yamato stopped and pulled out his scroll. He surveyed the surroundings and then he checked over the simplified map he had drawn.

''It should be around here'' he muttered,

''But there's nothing but grass here'' Naruto said crossing his arms with a disbelieved look on his face,

''I think we should move a little ahead, the map says that it's at the bottom of a cliff'' Sakura muttered as she pointed at the map. She was standing right behind Yamato and peeking at the map he was holding.

''Good eye Sakura'' Yamato said as rolled the scroll back and placed it in his jacket. The pink-haired kunoichi gave him a prideful smile.

They moved forward until they found themselves in front of the tall ragged grey wall, towering over them and keeping the sun out of sight.

''Is it really here?'' Naruto commented as he looked around, ''we just arrived to the bottom of a cliff and there is no other way, unless I have to blast the wall open?''

''No Naruto, the place is hidden by a jutsu, to be kept secret from the eyes of unwanted trespassers'' Yamato explained briefly ''Sai, we need to use your seal technique, for us to be able to enter''

''Well doesn't that make us trespassers as well?'' Sai asked

''Well sort of, but at least there is a good reason to it'' Yamato replied in uncertainty in his voice

Sai placed his satchel on the ground and pulled out a scroll and ink. He spread the scroll and started moving his brush, jabbing the raven liquid with firm strokes. After he finished he straightened up and made hand gestures before palming both of his hands on the scroll. Visible chakra threads appeared, white and thin cables soaring from the ground to the wall, the net stopped to a concentrated spot.

''Good, we have an opening, Naruto'' Yamato looked at the blond who was preparing himself as he performed the hand signs for the shadow clone.

''You don't need to tell me twice'' the blond muttered and with the help of his clone he created a rasengan and shot it towards the chakra point that Sai has created. The impact caused an explosion and behind the smoke and rubble, a cave appeared.

The four ninjas entered in the cave that gave way to a passage deep down under the cliff. It smelled damp and stuffy as they carefully stepped down the slippery rock. The stalactites hanged above their heads like pointed needles, on occasion translucent drops water trickled from the edges. The passageway was formed into a tunnel but it didn't look like it was man made. The more they go down, the more it started constricting into a confined space, Sai started to feel a little uncomfortable, he didn't fear of being stuck in closed spaces but he didn't like them either. Sakura looked in awe when she saw the beautiful reflection of white ripples curling and waving on the ceilings and corners of the wall as they passed by. Due to the humidity, it smelled stuffy and roots where outgrowing from the crevices of the stone. The sun's light became hard to reach in the depths where Yamato and his team where heading, so the captain had no other choice but to switch on the torch. Sakura followed closely behind Naruto, she would never admit that she was scared in any way, but knowing that he was walking in front of her made her feel reassuring. The tunnel spaced to a chasm in the belly of the earth.

''Do we have to go on the other side?'' Naruto asked as he looked around

''Yes though shouldn't be a problem'' Yamato answered, his wood-release technique was very handy for such occasions.

He performed hand signs sprouting large branches from the ground and reached to the other side. Yamato straightened his back ''Alright guys let's go''

Yamato went ahead walking carefully on the thick sturdy branch, fortunately it was sturdy enough to walk on, as the three teens followed their leader. Naruto's foot slipped off for a moment and splints scattered down into the void. The blond regained his balance though he felt dizzy at the prospect of falling off

''Naruto don't look down'' Sakura muttered in annoyance.

All of them were somewhat relieved when they got back to the solid ground on the other end of the chasm. Yamato whipped out the map, using it to guide them to the Senju chamber. They entered into another tunnel that led them to a dead end.

''It should be here'' Yamato said looking at his map and surveyed the place to see if check whether they were in the right place.

The three teens scanned around place until Sakura kneeling at the side of the wall had discovered something,

''There is a line here I think it's behind this block'' she said

''Awesome Sakura, get to a safe place so I can take care of it!'' Naruto replied, ready to use his rasengan but Yamato quickly intervened

''We are under a cliff, it would be very risky to use that technique, we might end up being buried under the rubble'' the wood-user said

Yamato walked next to Sakura, now that he was closer he could see the block was visibly cut from the wall. He stuck an explosive tag in the middle and used hand signs and carefully exploded the block. He lowered his head and entered first, followed by the young ninjas.

Much to their surprise they found themselves in a cramped crypt with a small-sized coffin in the middle and two long unlit candles in front of it. There were zigzag tags around the chamber, they were seals used to keep the evil spirits away from the resting place of the corpse, other than that the crypt was empty.

''Not what I was expecting'' Naruto said as he looked around,

''What were you expecting then?'' Sai asked,

''Something more flashy, you know, since it's from the Senju and all'' Naruto replied scratching his head ''There are no daggers here or anything except forthis tiny coffin''

''I think it belongs to a child'' Yamato continued,

''Are we sure that is belongs to the Senju? There are no symbols of the clan here'' Sakura replied

''Hold on, I see something'' everyone gathered around Sai as he pointed an inscription on the top of the tomb

They exchanged baffled looks when they read the name that belonged to the person who was resting in this tomb;

Sasuke Senju


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

xxx  
Note: From this chapter on there will be spoilers for those who haven't read chapter 621

xxx

Yamato tried to push the stony lid. It was closed for many decades and was hard to budge at first. Moss grew from the crevices of the stone from the humidity, sealing off the air that passed through the ledges, and the stillness of time made the stone harder to budge, but with a little effort it slid over with a groan, pouring light inside of which was once sealed into the darkness for decades. Yamato continued pushing it until it fell sideways resting against the side of the tomb. The smell of foul air invaded their nostrils, that of which was a pungent fume of decay and trapped air was now released within its confinement. Before them laid exposed the skeleton of a child, which judging from the size wasn't older than twelve months. In some places, the bones were brown and some were even disintegrated and scattered across the bottom of the coffin. The remnant of the child is wearing kimono which once was white, but now turned yellow and dirty, and a sash wrapped across its waist. The inside of the coffin was very stoic, it was spacious and the walls were made of bamboo wood. There were no flowers or ornaments, as it was custom to place such things as a respect towards the one who had passed away.

Furthermore, there were neither insignia nor symbols that confirm the identification of the child, only the name Senju carved on top of the coffin lid was the evidence, which was very strange. Every ninja that was born within a clan, from the moment that is brought into the world, lives and dies, bears the name proudly. That is the reason why the insignia were very significant to the clans, and it is present in a ninja for their entire lives, it represents the ninja as who he/she is. In the past it was more important even more than this time, because the hidden ninja villages didn't exist yet and the clan was all that could sustain them. In their own way, each ninja in that room was aware of this in one way or another. There was a heavy silence and this discovery left them with a myriad of unanswered questions, and the deadly silence fell down like heavy mist. Yamato stepped forward as though he tried to intervene from the awkward silence that pended over their heads, and decided to speak.

'There is nothing else we can do here, we should head back''

All eyes turned to him, and the stillness of the previous moment started to break, since Yamato's words stirred the youths into a conversation

'Are we going to tell granny Tsunade about this?'' Naruto inquired curiously

'Yes, I will ask her if she could do some research regarding this tomb and maybe uncover some light upon it'' Yamato responded as he folded his arms across his chest

'But we still haven't found the dagger'' Sai intervened

'The map had lead us here, but in terms of what we were looking for, we've come to a dead end, so unless we have some other kind of lead we won't find it here' Yamato uncrossed his arms and trotted towards the entrance. Sai followed and Naruto was going to the same when he noticed Sakura still staring at the coffin in deep thought.

'Hey, are you coming?'' She was startled by his voice and looked up

'Yeah' she answered 'we should at least cover it up again' referring to the exposed coffin.

'I guess you are right'' Yamato stopped in his tracks and returned back to the tomb. With the help of Naruto, they set the plaque back in its place, and thus in respect of the child who rested there, it can somewhat regain peace. Sakura felt a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach since the moment that it was uncovered. The fact that it bore the same name of her friend which went rogue, she couldn't help but feel that it was some kind of terrible irony playing with forces outside their control. It wasn't as though she believed in such a thing called fate, or rather never thought much about it.

They trudged their way out of the tunnel, taking the same path from where they came, and being back in the surface had made everyone somewhat feel more at ease. Naruto shrugged off the dust that accumulated over his shoulders. He felt that they were on a wild goose chase, and he was looking forward to go back to the village and have a good ramen noodle soup at Ichiraku's. Sai, on the other hand , treated the matter as though it was a murder case. He suggested that, the opening should be concealed for now, to avoid uninvited and ignorant onlookers might find the tomb and destroy it or steal the body, before the team can look deeper into it. Yamato agreed with Sai and so the youth concealed it by using his sealing art technique. They turned their backs to the cliff and swiftly headed back to the village.

Xxx

Lady Shizune strode through the hall in a little bit of frenzy because Lady Tsunade had missed the meeting with the elderly council, and for a Hokage to miss the monthly meeting, meant that her Lady is going to be in trouble. It was no easy task to impress the council; they were a group of ancient contributors to the village, stubborn and interchangeably opinionated. It was Shizune's job to keep the fifth Hokage's in check that was her secret alliance with the council, in exchange she was able to help her and protect her when necessary. In fact she managed to handle the situation when Lady Tsunade wasn't present, she needed to inform her in case they visit her later. As soon as she arrived at the door she turned the knob and made herself in without bothering with the polite manners. Shizune's eyes went wide when she found herself in the Hokage's office filled with brim with stacks of books. Shizune stepped on her toes, making her way around the towers of piling books which threaten to fall with the slightest carelessness.

'Lady Tsunade?' she called out to her mistress, in hope that she finds her amidst the pile.

The desk was empty save for the papers, scrolls and ink lying about over the oak wood surface, but Tsunade wasn't there. It was only when she walked around the side of the desk that she caught sight of the fifth Hokage.

The older woman was sitting at a corner with her legs crossed and a heavy book in her lap. Her head was dipped down, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as her red manicured nails rested on the page ready to flip to the next.

'Lady Tsunade' Shizune called out again, it took a while before the blond haired woman looked up 'oh great, you're here, I need a favour' she said before she returned to her reading.

'Umm Lady Tsunade, you missed the meeting' she meekly remarked trying to remind her of what the older woman seemed to be completely unaware of.

The blond haired woman place a hand over her face 'dammit I forgot, I so need a drink' Shizune wanted to blurt out _that it was beside the point, as there were more important matters for the moment_. The fifth Hokage had incredible way of falling from one vice to another, in such a short time.

The black haired young woman sighed 'Lady Tsunade, the elders might visit you and…they will not be happy that you had missed the meeting' she hoped that her mistress will be sound to reason

'I will deal with them later, right now I have a matter at hand and it is important' in long hours that she had spent sitting there, she uncurled herself into a standing position, feeling her muscles stiff and her bones cracking.

She lifted her arms to stretch her sore limbs, while Shizune inquired curiously 'what's the matter?'

Lady Tsunade looked at her 'Captain Yamato sent a report three days ago about the discovery of a tomb that belonged to Senju Clan, I am trying to find any piece of information I could get my hands on, but so far no luck' she let out a frustrated sigh.

'Have you tried the library?' the black haired woman suggested, there was a large extensive books about Konoha's history and ancestry'. The fifth Hokage crossed her arms and looked out of the window from her office. From the altitude of her office, she could almost see the entire view from her office.

'I know but in this case it is very secretive and restricted information when it comes to the relation with the clans even within our village, I doubt I'd find anything useful but I guess there is no harm in trying' she was going to proceed to walk to the door when she was stopped by the younger woman 'Tsunade-sama'; she didn't need much to figure out what Shizune was trying to imply when she called her like that.

The blond haired woman shrugged and rolled her eyes 'I'll do the paperwork later, even if it means staying up late but I got to do this now, are you coming with me?'

Shizune nodded and followed. The two women made their way to the large library that stood close to the Hokage's tower. They headed to the square building with the wooden plate carved in kanji for library, hanging beside the entrance. It looked more modern than the other buildings with its large window panels and stood five stories high with a perfectly squared perimeter. The fifth Hokage walked to the reception desk. She saw a man sitting down behind the bench and inquired him about books related to the Senju clan, and he quickly gave her the directions. Without wasting time, Tsunade trotted her way to the section relating to the miscellaneous books about Konoha. Her heart sunk, when she just saw only two bookshelves _**, **_though her search was reduced to only three books which were related closely to what she was looking for. The fifth Hokage shrugged and pulled one of the books from its spine. The title read: the complete history of the clans. She sat down to a nearby desk and placed the book down and reluctantly flipped through the pages. She came across a section which regards to the treaty of the Uchiha and the Senju clan, which by unifying these two clans had let to the eventual establishment of the village of Konoha. It was written in a relatively general way, so there was nothing about this information that she didn't already know. There was a sentence, however, that triggered a clue that might help her: Mito Uzumaki whom is the first Hokage's wife, had written several accounts of the changes and happenings during her time, when two clans merged and Konoha started building not just as a construction but also as a society. Tsunade had suddenly remembered of the scrolls that she inherited from Lady Mito. From letters to accounts of everyday life, she had kept these scrolls as a safe keep of her grandmother's memory. 'Of course' she blurted out as _she stood up_, pressing her hands against the table. Shizune was clueless about her mistress' sudden revelation and looked puzzled. 'Did you find something?' she inquired. Lady Tsunade looked at her, snapping out of her own thoughts

'I need to go back' she said as she closed the book and headed her way out of the library. The younger woman hurriedly followed her steps trying to catch up with her.

'Are you going back to the office?'' she wished that Lady Tsunade wasn't so impatient and in constant state of immediacy, leaving Shizune trying to figure out what her mistress' is up to.

'No I am going home, it was there but I just didn't realize it, my grandmother's scrolls. It was because I was looking into them that led the Team 7 to that tomb, so what's written there, it should be the _key_.' It all started to make sense to her now that the fifth Hokage had explained it to her. Shizune figured as to why her mistress was investing so much effort into this, even though there was no official importance to it. There was a kind of pressure that she was bearing. The fact that she is the last in line and direct descended of the Senju-Clan, and moreover, related to influential figures that had contributed greatly to the village, she felt the need to learn more about her ancestors and in a way that would help her as leader as well. Shizune had known Lady Tsunade since she was a teen, she knew her pretty well, she didn't need to tell her anything, she understood.

They got to the Hokage's house. The older woman practically barged into her own house, as she slid the door open and trotted down to her office, with Shizune following in tow. It was more humble than her working office, but it was enough for her to work when she's at home, and to keep books, scrolls and other related paperwork there. She walked to a cabinet with glass doors and two chest drawers underneath. She opened one and pulled a package of scrolls which were tied up with a thin string. She sat down and crossed her legs as she starting opening them while the younger woman joined her, kneeling down and started looking too. There were amoment of total silence and the only sound that permeated in the room, was the clacking of the stiff old bamboo paper as they were opened the scrolls and read them. The writing was neatly inked in hiragana lined vertically from right to left, into perfect columns, but the boldness and stroke of the letters had distinctive features: this was Mito Uzumaki's handwriting. Though they hadn't found anything relatable to what they were looking for, when Shizune was about to open another scroll, a piece of paper slipped over her lap. She picked it up, it was old, its edges were ragged, as though it was cut off from a scroll, and the discoloured yellow paper was caked with dried dirt.

'What's that?' Tsunade peeked to what was in her apprentice's hands. 'I don't know what it is, I just found it' she replied as she handed it over to the older woman. The blond haired woman opened it and her eyes widened when she saw the contents, she knew that it was the golden ticket to the mystery she was trying to unfold. 'This is it!' she said and stretched her hand out for Shizune to read it. It was written in the same format, but the handwriting was different, there were dark blotches stained on the paper as though someone was crying when they wrote this:

_One cannot fathom the pain in my heart_

_The burden I have to bear on my shoulders because of the path I have chosen _

_And the consequences and perils of my decisions, but most of all _

_The loss of the soul of the one dearest to me _

_Even If I am going to dust away to nothing, I retain only one wish _

_That his name shall never be forgotten _

_He was the dawn of my hopes and the future of the clans _

_They were buried with you, my love_

_This is my dedication in hope that you won't be lost forever_

_To my dearest son, Sasuke Senju _

She stopped a moment to think. She remembered that Yamato had mentioned in his report that they found the crypt with the child's name as Sasuke Senju, however but it leaves pondering questions; the identity of the parents who wrote this memento, and why it was buried so far away from the village. In addition to that, the tomb was hidden under a cliff and sealed. Even up until todayit is an accustomed usage to hide someone's burial in order to protect any secrets from the enemies. She thought of the name Sasuke, she felt that there was something she was missing out, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it. She resolved to delve a little more into this mystery.

xxx

In the time of the warring states, the Senju clan lived in the deep forest of the North-east side of the Fire Nation, in which later it became part of the village named as Konoha. During that time, the ninjas lived segregated into several small communities, walled only by the natural defences. In the case of the Senju-clan, they hid themselves in a highly vegetated area. The tall trees and thick bushes, made the pathways harder to lead to the village and less visible to the naked eye even from a vantage point afar, hence why they were nicknamed Senju of the forest. It was a reliable strategy, as it gave them an advantage, making it harder to be located by the enemies_**. **_They had no other defences other than themselves, they lived isolated from other clans, since most of the clans fought with each other for land, power or resources, but their longest blood feud was with the Uchiha clan. From the dawn of time they fought against one another, it had dissolved into mutual need to survive, encouraged by revenge of their comrades and drunk on their vanity, but blissfully ignorant of the reasons that started the war in the first place. Among the rowed wooden houses, there was one particular which bore the name of Hashirama Senju. It was a custom that each house retained the name of the leader of a particular household. In the courtyard there was a figure of a young ninja shooting kunai towards the standing log, imagining it as the enemy.

She took long steady breathes as a part of the concentration for her training. She paused a moment before she felt it was the right time, and with a flicker of the wrist shot four kunai, they whooshed with speed and accuracy until they flung to the target sequentially in a straight line with a thud. She relaxed her muscles observing her results and felt satisfied that she was gradually improving. She proceeded in pulling back the kunai, unaware that there was someone else watching her.

'Hiromi, you are really honing your skills'

The familiar male voice caused her to turn around a little startled of his presence. Her uncle walked towards her smiling proudly at her. He noticed the palms of her hands were scratched off due to the training.

'Thank you Hashi-san, I am glad that you are here because I need a little practice with the water release techniques, can you help me out please? Unless you have some other business you need to take care of'

'Never too busy for you'' Hashirama replied chuckling a little 'Let me see how do you do it on your own' He walked closer to her

She made hand signs and closed her eyes, concentrating on her chakra. She felt it moving like a flowing energy, as though it was alive. It started forming in the palm of her hands solidifying itself into the matter of water and changing into the shape of a sphere. Though the technique was almost complete, the composition of water was too feeble, it wasn't enough to sustain itself and it rapidly dissolved. She sighed in frustration.

"You have to use more chakra in order to create a consistent amount of water'' Hashirama replied as he watched her. ''but I believe that in order to completely master this technique you should first be able to control the available water first''

''I know how to do that well, as a matter of fact I took the same principle, though this is proving to be harder'' Hiromi explained frowning.

''Well of course when it comes to nature manipulation, creating an element from chakra, is harder than manipulating the available natural source'' he lifted his palms up and concentrated until a blue aura created in his palms. ''First let's produce the chakra'' he said

Hiromi tried to give it a second shot, this time using a greater amount of chakra. She knew that the more she uses chakra, the faster she was going to wear out, but endurance came by honing one's capacity through practice. She knew she had to learn to take the first step, and then she could focus on her endurance. She managed to create ample of chakra, her fingers tingled with a pricking sensation.

''You are on the right track'' Hashirama replied ''Now create the water with the chakra available in your hands, concentrated in which shape you are going to create it''

She recreated the sphere of water in the palm of her hands. This time it was larger and more sustainable than the first attempt. She felt relieved and happy that she managed.

'You see, you managed! Now all you need is to keep working on it' Hashirama muttered encouragingly.

'So there you are'' An elderly man joined the conversation as he walked towards them. He crossed his arms and looked vexed at Hahsirama. He smiled nervously, knowing that he was going to get himself in trouble.

'I was on my way to the council hall' he explained before the elderly man said a word, he knew why he was looking for him.

''This is an imperative meeting, you cannot be late' the elderly man replied

'I appreciate of the fact that you are willing to help me but you shouldn't skip your duties' Hiromi said

He gave her a look of a wounded pup, as though he was expecting her to defend him rather than comply with the elderly man. 'My little girl, you have no faith in me, I was going to leave once I helped you out' he said pouting.

'Don't call me little' she interjected with an offended look ''I am a young woman' she crossed her arms affirmatively as she talked

''As you wish'' he said chuckling ''though you really should ask your father to help you on this, he is the best when it comes to water release techniques''

She let her arms hang loose to the sides of her waist and conveyed a grave look upon her face. 'He is a very busy man, I don't wish to disturb him' she said in a very serious tone.

'Nonsense, all you have to do is to ask' Hashirama replied with a warm smile. 'Still I'd rather have you as my teacher' she than replied and embraced him, stretching her toes so that she could reach her arms around his neck. Hashirama hugged her back, but, he had to pull away and left with the elderly man for the meeting.

xxx

As soon as Hashirama stepped in the council hall, he felt the dreading heavy air hanging above their heads. The men and women present were sitting in a row, divided on each side of the room, they talked to each other in hushed voices, spreading an ailment of anxiety and restlessness. The Senju leader sat down in front of them, crossed legs and resting one hand over his knee, his stature was very humble and earthly, but his presence subdued the disquietude among them. The elderly man sat down on a stool on the far side of the room. They proceeded on the matter at hand,

'We have caught an Uchiha spy, but unfortunately, no matter how much we interrogate him, we cannot draw much information from him' one of them said, interrogation was a rather subtle insinuation for what was being issued.

'If he's of no use than we should rather kill him or use him as bait for an unsuspecting attack on the enemy'

'We cannot be rash, we must know our enemies moves, and then prepare ourselves, we have to take our capabilities into consideration our moves as well as our enemies' before we can proceed'

The Uchiha are keeping a close tight security, our spies cannot get through''

''We have resorted to such cowardice! Relying on captured spies to get to the advantage of the enemy, what happened about the warfare we waged upon each other for all these years!'

''I don't agree we are shinobi, whatever means we have we must use it''

Hashirama remained quiet as he listened to the conversation, there was no conclusion to the discussion that the high ranking ninjas were putting forward to in the meeting. It was an endless bloodshed, no matter how it was looked upon. A heavy silence fell, as the members waited for their leader to offer his opinion in the matter. The young man appeared to be pondering for a moment and then he spoke

'I propose to talk to leader of the Uchiha clan again, perhaps trying to find a compromise, which will end to all this conflict' it was his greatest hope, but those who were sitting in front of him looked disconcerted. They murmured between each other, but even though he couldn't hear them he knew what they were thinking: _it is a cowardice play, it's an ineffective and weak strategy_, _he is growing too soft_.

' I am well aware of the deaths that was brought upon our fellow clansmen because of the war, but this kind of treaty will bring great prosperity to our clan'

The murmur dissipated into an uneasy stillness. No one outwardly objected to Hashirama's proposition, but it wasn't because of fear, it was out of respect towards their leader. Seeing that the members overall had brought upon a conclusion, the elderly man stood up.

'''Then the council meeting is adjourned''

As the room was filtered out by the members walking out one by one until it was empty, Hashirama relaxed a little and rubbed his aching shoulders, he wondered how long he could hold on to the tension of the moment.

Xxx


End file.
